The present invention relates in general to bookbinding and magazine binding processes and the product produced by such processes, and in particular to an automated process for adhesively binding, in saddle-wise fashion, two or more signatures.
A common component used in the binding of books, magazines and the like is the signature. A signature, typically, is a folded and preassembled group of pages which may typically number from four (a single sheet, folded) up to 32 pages. There exist two principal methods of assembling groups of signatures together to form a magazine or book. A first kind of binding, usually reserved for books and thick magazines, is the "perfect" method of binding. In perfect binding, the components of the book, the signatures, are collected side by side and attached together with adhesive or sewing or other suitable means, with a cover thereafter placed upon the outside of the assembled signatures.
An alternative binding method, which is commonly used for pamphlets, magazines, smaller "soft bound" books and the like, is the "saddle" binding method. In this method, the components, the signatures, are each collected, arranged and affixed together in a saddle-wise fashion. The signatures used in a saddle-binding process, if consisting of two or more sheets of paper, may be internally glued together prior to assembly. The methods of gluing the sheets together may vary widely. Typically, the gluing may be accomplished by gluing webs of paper together in a continuous web feed printing press. This technique, in particular, is known as press pasting.
Typically, one signature, called an undersignature, which comprises the center-most pages of a book or magazine, is supported upon a rail or conveyor in an inverted V configuration, with the fold, called the "spine", of the undersignature oriented upwardly. A second signature, called an oversignature, is then dropped upon the undersignature. The pages on opposite sides of the spine of the innermost pages of the oversignature comprise the pages immediately before, and immediately after, the outermost pages of the undersignature upon which the oversignature is being placed. For the purposes of the present invention, in saddle-type binding, the cover of a book may as well be considered a signature.
After as many signatures as make up the book or magazine are assembled in this fashion, the signatures are then attached to one another by wire stitching. Typically, a staple is driven downward through the cover of the book and through the various underlying assembled signatures, along the respective aligned spines of the underlying signatures, and closed. A particular drawback of this form of binding process is that the binding of the respective signatures actually occurs only in the localized areas of the staple, of which usually only two or three are used. The remainder of the adjacent areas of the spines of the signatures are unbound and thus loose. In time, the staples may open, creating the possibility of injury to the reader, especially a juvenile reader, from the projecting staple ends, as well as loss of one or more of the signatures, or individual pages, of the book. In addition, as the book or magazine is used, the material of the signatures located around the staples will become worn and the holes through which the staples extend will enlarge, further encouraging tearing or loss of the signatures.
It is therefore desirable to provide a book or magazine, which may be assembled in saddle-wise fashion, utilizing the advantageous speed and easy assembly of saddlestitcher type binding processes and apparata, but without utilizing such means as staples or stitches to accomplish the binding of the signatures to one another. Accordingly, it is be desirable to provide a method by which signatures may be assembled in saddle-wise fashion and bound together by adhesive.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,119,511 to Perkins, a process is shown for supplementing the wire attachment of saddlestitched books or magazines. In Perkins, the signatures are passed beneath a roller which applies adhesive along the spine and adjacent sides of the signature After the adhesive is applied a subsequent signature or cover is dropped onto the signature bearing the adhesive, and then the combined signatures are wire stitched. Wire stitching and an uncontrolled application of adhesive are potential drawbacks of the Perkins process. Migration of the adhesive down the adjacent sides of the signature may result in cracking or tearing of the pages of the adjoining pages as the book is opened widely and the presence of staples may render the book unsuitable for use by children due to the danger of injury.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,185 to McCain, et al., a process is shown for attaching together the pages of signatures, in which a track of adhesive is applied along the length of uncut flat, unfolded sheets as they flow from a roll, which are thereafter laid together, pressed, cut and folded to form a single signature. A wire stitcher may be utilized to attach the several signatures together.
A method for attaching individual sheets together, along an edge portion of the sheets, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,758 to Stobb. In Stobb, the sheets are passed beneath a wheel which has projecting from its circumference a plurality of hollow needles connected to a supply of fluid adhesive. The hollow needles pierce the collected sheets at predetermined intervals and inject the liquid adhesive which permeates the sheets and hardens to form a bond. The bond which is produced does not yield a localized bond, nor is the bond continuous along the length of the spine of the signature which is produced.
It would be advantageous to provide a process for attaching the signatures to one another, in which the adhesive is arranged along the spine of the signature in a highly localized and controlled manner, so as to form a hinge-like bond between the signatures. Such a hinge-like bond would permit the book to be opened widely without the just-described cracking of adhesive, or tearing of pages.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a method for binding together signatures which have been assembled in saddle-wise fashion which does not employ wire stitching or needles.
Another object of the invention is to provide a process for binding together signatures which have been assembled in saddle-wise fashion which employs an adhesive to hold the signatures together, which adhesive is applied in a controlled manner along the spine of the signatures to provide a highly localized, hinge-like bond between the signatures.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a book or magazine product which is assembled in saddle-wise fashion, and thus quickly and inexpensively, which utilizes an adhesive bead between the signatures, rather than wire stitches, to achieve a binding of the signatures, and which is therefore suitable for use especially by juvenile readers.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent in light of the present specification, drawings and claims.